Roll changer



Feb. 20, 1962 A. c. FREEMAN 3,022,022

ROLL CHANGER Filed Dec. 25, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 &

INVENTOR:

Armifl'ead aFpeeman,

ATTORNEYS.

A. C. FREEMAN Feb. 20, 1962 ROLL CHANGER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 23, 1959 United States Patent 3,022,022 ROLL CHAWGER Armistead C. Freeman, Box 1962, Pine Blnif, Ark. Fiied Dec. 23, 1959, Ser. No. 861,691 2 Claims. (Cl. 2428) This invention relates to apparatus for changing rolls of running lengths of webs for use in a variety of web feeding apparatus.

It is necessary when using continuous web feeding apparatus, such as the commercial newspaper printing presses, box making machines, and similar packaging machines, to supply to the machines, through a web feeding apparatus, the material to be operated upon. Such materials, such as news print, kraft paper, boxboard, and the like, are supplied to the user in roll form. The roll of material is usually mounted upon a freely rotating spindle or shaft so that the web may be rapidly fed into a web feeding apparatus. There have been in the past machines to effect the replacement of an expiring roll with a new full roll without substantially stopping or slowing down for'a long period of time the web feeding apparatus. pensive and intricate and require almost as much maintenance and control as the web feeding apparatus for newspaper printing machines. The apparatus of this invention provides an extremely efficient yet inexpensive apparatus for replacing an expiring roll with a new full roll when used in conjunction with a web feeding machine, such as a printing press.

It is an object, therefore, of this invention to provide an improved apparatus for replacing an expiring roll of web-like material with a new full roll of web-like material used 'in conjunction with a web feeding apparatus.

It is a further object of this machine to provide in a roll changing apparatus for running lengths of web-like material, improved means for mounting the roll of weblike material upon the apparatus.

Still another object of this invention is to provide improved tensioning means for controlling the rotation of the roll of web-like material at all times during the roll changing process and during the feeding process.

These and further objects and advantages will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the appended drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of the preferred embodiment of the apparatus looking in the direction of feed of the web;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view looking from the right of FIGURE 1, with certain parts removed for clarity;

FIGURE 2a is a partial end view looking from the left of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevational view looking left of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a partial side elevational view showing modified means for effecting the rotation of the main shaft;

. FIGURE 5 is a partial side elevational view with parts broken away of one of the roll shaft supporting arms and showing the roll shaft tensioning means;

FIGURE 6 is a partial top plan view of a roll shaft supporting arm; and

from the FIGURE 7 is a partial side elevational view of the roll shaft supporting arm of FIGURE 6.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to FIGURES 1 and 2, the preferred embodiment of the apparatus of this invention comprises a main shaft 10 mounted for rotation within the bearings 12' which are disposed adjacent its outer ends. The bearings 12 are secured to vertically extending support members 14 which Such prior machines are usually quite ex-- are in the form of an inverted U. The support members 14 comprise a front leg 16 and a rear leg 18 which are preferably made of steel H beams and are welded together at their upper ends by a horizontally extending member 20 which also is preferably constructed from a steel H beam. The bearing members 12 are suitably secured to the support members 20 substantially at their midpoints by any suitable means, such as welding or by a nut and bolt arrangement. The support members 14 are suitably spaced from each other so as to permit the bearings 12 carried thereby to embrace the main shaft 10 adjacent its ends. Referring now to FIGURE 3, the support members 14 may further include a web guide arrangement 22 which comprises a rotatably mounted roller 24 disposed above and parallel to main shaft 10 and carried by a horizontal support member 26 supported at its outer ends by the upwardly extending supports 28 which are secured at their lower ends to the horizontal support members 20 of the main supports 14.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, one end of the main shaft 10 has a sprocket wheel 30 fixed thereto and disposed outside of the support 14 on the same side of the apparatus. An electric motor 32 is mounted on the support 14 by means of a plate 34 secured to the underside of the horizontal support 20 and is drivingly connected with a speed reducer 36 having an output shaft 38 with a sprocket wheel 40 afiixed to its outer end and in alignment with the sprocket wheel 30. The two sprocket wheels 30 and 40 are drivingly connected together by means of the chain 42. The motor 32 may be selectively operated by means of the switch box 44 mounted upon the leg 18 of the support member 14 which carries the motor and speed reducer arrangement so that the operator of the apparatus may cause the main shaft 10 to be rotated within the bearings 12 when desired.

A pair of axially spaced roll supporting arms 46 and 48 are mounted upon main shaft 10 for rotation therewith and have at their outer ends split bearings 50. The arms 46 and 48 extend radially of the shaft 10 and are parallel to each other and rotatably carry roll supporting shafts 52 which extend therebetween and parallel to the main shaft 10. At one end of both of the roll support shafts 52 there is a roll tensioning means, indicated generally at 54, which are mounted upon the arm 48 which is adjacent the operating position of the apparatus near the motor 32. By adjusting the tensioning means 54, the operator may allow for, or restrict, the rotation of each of the roll support shafts 52 within the split bearings 50 carried by supporting arms 46 and 48.

In order to insure that supporting arms 46 and 48 are disposed parallel to each other, the shaft 10 is provided with keyways 56 which are in axial alignment and cooperate with a key seat 58 (FIGURES 5 and 7) in the centrally located aperture 60 of each of the arms 46 and 43. The arms 46 and "48 are secured at their desired axially spaced positions by means of the set screw 62 carried by the integral sleeve 64 which surrounds the central aperture 60 of each arm. The arms 46 and 48 may be axially adjusted along the shaft 10 by loosening the set screw 62 and sliding the arms 46 and 48 axially along the keyways 56 carried by the main shaft 10. Thus, it will be seen that when the shaft 10 is rotated by means of the motor 32 and chain 42, the arms 46 and 48 will simultaneously rotate therewith, as will be discussed further below.

As previously stated, the roll supporting shafts 52 are carried by the arms 46 and 48 and are rotatably mounted thereon by means of the split bearings 50 secured to their outer ends. The split bearings 50 (FIGURES 6 and 7) comprise a first bearing housing 66 which is secured, as

by welding, to the outer end 68 of the arms 46 and 48. The split bearing housing 66 has mounted therein a semicircular bearing element 7 which is adapted to cooperate with a semicircular bearing member 72 carried by'the second split bearing housing 74 which is pivotally connected, as at 76,'to one end of the first split bearing housing 66. The other end of split bearing housing 66 has a threaded stud 78 pivotally mounted thereto, with the stud 78 having a cooperating nut 80 threadedly mounted thereon. When it is desired to mount a roll supporting shaft 52 within the split bearings 50, the nut 86 is loosened from the stud 78 and the second bearing housing '74 is pivoted about the first bearing member 66 to an open position, as shown in FIGURE 7. When the shaft 52 has been placed within the 'arcuate bearing section 70' of the first bearing housing 66, the second bearing housing 74 is then pivoted to its closed position, as shown in dotted lines in FIGURE 7,' so that the semicircular bearing portions 70 and 72 surround the shaft 52. The stud 73 is then pivoted so that it lies within the slot 82 of the second bearing housing 74 and the nut 80 is tightened on the stud 78 to maintain the bearing housings 66 and 74 in closed position to rotatably mount the shaft 52 to the ends of the arms 46 and 48.

One of the arms 48 has mounted thereon, adjacent each of its ends 68, tensioning means 54v which control the rotationof the shafts 52 carried by the arms 46 and 48. As mentioned previously, the tensioning means 54 are disposed on the arm .48 which is nearest to the operating position of the apparatus so that a single operator may not only control the rotation of the main shaft 10 but may also control the rotation of each ofthe roll support shafts 52. The means to mount the tensioning means 54 to the arm 48 comprises a transversely extending member 84 disposed adjacent each of the split bearings 5t? and which may be either made integral with the arm 48 or may be secured thereto by welding the like.

The member 84 has a central threaded aperture 86 which is in general longitudinal alignment with the central aperture 60 of the arm 48 and with the semicircular bearing element 70 of the split bearing housing 66. The member 84 is also provided with threaded'apertures 88 adjacent its outer ends, with the apertures 86 and 88 preferably being in alignment with each other. The other arm 46 may be similarly provided with the tensioning means mounting members 8'4, if desired, so that the tensioning .means may be mounted on either am, if desired. There is shown here for illustrative purposes only the tensioning means mounting members 84 carried only by the one arm 48.

The tensioning means 54 comprise a pair of arcuate brake members 90' adapted to ride within the circumferential groove 92 in the flanges 94 on outer ends of each of the shafts 52 (FIGURES 1 and 5). The brake members 90a-re carried by the levers 96 (FIGURE 5 and are 7 preferably disposed at diagonally opposed positions relative to the flange 94. Levers 96 are pivotally connected at their inner ends by means of the studs 98 threadedly mounted in the apertures 88 of support member 84. The

' levers 96 and their associated brake members 90 may be adjusted axially of the shafts 52 by means of the threaded shaft 100 threadedly mounted within the aperture 86 and the transversely extending m'ember 102 disposed between the hand-wheel 1554 mounted on the outer end of the stud 109 and the transverse member 84. By turning the hand-wheel 104, transverse member 102 may be moved either toward or away from transverse member 84 on the arm 48, thus moving the levers 96 and their associated brakes 90 axially relative to the flange 94 carried by the shafts 52. Theouter ends of the levers 96 are connected together by a turnbuckle arrangement 106 so that by turning the hand-wheel 188 of the turnbuckle arrangement the levers may be pivoted together or apart about the Studs 98, thus causing the'brake members 90 carried groove 92 of the flange 94 to prevent rotation of the shaft 52, or to be moved away from the circumferential groove 92 to allow for varying degrees of ease of rotation of the shaft 52 within bearing members 79 and 72.

With the apparatus suitably installed at the rear of intake side of a roll feeding machine, the operation of the changing of the rolls will now be described. A roll of web-like material, such as newsprint, kraft paper, or the like, depending upon the type of roll feed machine being used, is first mounted upon a roll supporting shaft 52. The roll is suitably placed upon the shaft 52 and is maintained in such position by means ofthe annular members 110 which are slideably mounted on the shaft 52 on opposite sides of the roll. Annular members 110 are provided with set screws 112 so that once the proper alignment of the roll on the shaft 52 has been determined, the annular members 110 are placed against the sides of the roll and the set screws 112 are tightened to maintain the position of the annular members 110 and the roll disposed therebetween. The annular members 110 are particularly useful when the apparatus is to be used in combination with a printing machine in that the margin may be accurately controlled and varied. With the rolls mounted upon the shafts 52, the split bearings are opened and the shafts 52, with the rolls mounted thereon, are rotatably mounted upon the radial arms 46 and 48. Tensioning means 54 are then adjusted so that the brake members 90 engage the circumferential groove 92 in the flange 94 of the shafts 52. The main shaft 10 is then rotated by means of the motor 32 and chain 42 so that the arms 46 and 48 which rotate therewith generally assume the position shown in FIGURE 3; In FIGURE 4 there is shown a gear arrangement, for effecting the rotation of main shaft 10 and the arms 46 and 48 as alternative to the power. means previously described. Atone end of the main shaft 10 there is secured a circular gear 120 which preferably has 61 gear teeth with a 1" pitch which meshes with a compound circular gear 122 having a smaller gear 124 provided with 16 teeth and a 1" pitch, the outer arrangement of said gear being 52 teeth and a A pitch. These latter teeth mesh with a second compound gear 126 having an inner gear 128 provided with 16 teeth at a pitch and an outer gear portion having 52 teeth at a pitch. These latter teeth mesh with a 15-tooth, pitch gear 130 carried by the shaft 132 of handwheel 134. In this arrangement, when it is desired with the instant apparatus.

46 and 48, the operator may turn the handwheel 134 by means of the knob 136 secured thereto and through the described gear train readily effect the rotation of the main shaft 11!.

With the apparatus in the positions shown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the web W of feed roll R which is in the uppermost position, is threaded over the guide 24 and into the web-feeding machine which is employed in conjunction The tensioning means 54 cooperating with the shaft 52 upon which the feed roll R is mounted, is released to permit the free rotation of the shaft 52' within the split bearings 50. The web feed machine is then actuated and the web W of the roll R feeds freely thereinto. While the roll R is supplying the web W to the roll feed machine, another roll R is suitably mounted on a shaft 52 and then placed within the split bearings 5i) atthe rearward or lower ends of the arms 46 and 48 (FIGURE 3), as described above. After the tensioning means 54 have been suitably adjusted relative to the circumferential groove 92 in the flange 94 on the second shaft 52 carrying the roll R the tensioning means 54 is tightened so as to prevent the rotation of the shaft 52 and its associated roll R The, exposed end of the web W of the roll R is then torn or cut to form a blunt V at 140 (FIGURE 2a) and a suitable glue or adhesive paste 142 is supplied to the inside of the V. The operator then rotates the main shaft 10 in a clockwise direction so that the roll R becomes the lower roll disposed to the rear of the apparatus and the roll R assumes the upper position, or the former position of roll R (FiGURE 2). The rolls R and R as shown in FIG- URE 2, are disposed so that the web W of roll R which is feeding the web-feeding machine, just touches the outer periphery of stationary roll R When the roll R begins to reach expiration, the web-feeding machine is slowed down to a walk so that the operator may readily accomplish the change of feeding from the roll R to the roll R When it is apparent that the roll R is about expired, the tension on the shaft 52 carrying roll R is released so that the shaft and its roll may freely rotate. The operator then breaks the ,Web W of the roll R and splices it to the V140 of the roll R so that feeding of the web W of the roll R may now commence. When the splice is secure, the web feed machine is then restored to its normal operating speed and is now being fed by the Web W of the upper roll R The expired roll R is then removed from the apparatus and a new full roll is mounted within the split bearings 50, as previously described. When the new full roll is mounted, the main shaft it, is then turned clockwise, as previously described, so that when the roll R begins to expire, the new roll may be spliced to the web W as was the web W spliced to the roll R It will thus be seen that there has been provided by this invention an apparatus in which the various objects hereinbefore set forth, together with many practical advantages, are successfully achieved. As various possible embodiments may be made of the mechanical features of the above invention, all without departing from the scope thereof, it is to be understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus for changing rolls of running lengths comprising: opposed side frame means; a main shaft rotatably mounted at its ends to said side frame means; drive means operatively joined to said main shaft to selectively effect its rotation; a pair of axially spaced, radially extending arms mounted at their respective centers to said shaft; split bearing housings carried at the free ends of said radial arms; opposed roll supporting shafts carried in opposed split bearing housings in parallel relationship to one another and said main shaft; spaced apart annular members slidably carried by said roll supporting shafts to fix the position of a roll therealong, said annular members carrying means for selectively engaging their respective shafts to fix their axial position therealong; a flange wheel having a tapered circumferential recess joined to each of said roll supporting shafts outwardly of said split bearings; and means associated with each of said flange wheels for selectively braking said roll supporting shafts, including a first link pivotally secured at its center to said radial arm and having opposed free ends, opposed lever arms pivotally secured at their inner ends to the free ends of said link, cooperatively tapered brake members pivotally carried by said lever arms for engagement with said flange wheel, a turnbuckle joined to the outer free ends of said lever arms, hand wheel mounted to said turnbuckle for moving said brake members radially into and out of engagement with said flange wheel, said pivotal link connection including a shaft having a threaded end portion, a second link mounted in coextensive relationship with said first link, a hand wheel joined to said second link and threaded to said shaft, the free ends of said second link being joined to the adjacent ends of said lever arms whereby rotation of said second hand wheel selectively moves said brake members axially relative to the longitudinal axis of said flange Wheel.

2. Apparatus defined in claim 1 including a guiding roll rotatably mounted in stationary relationship to said opposed side frame means out of the path of movement of said radial arms for guiding the web carried by a supporting shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 769,659 Mascord Sept. 6, 1904 1,449,093 Finley Mar. 20, 1923 1,716,812 Ball June 11, 1929 1,945,670 Wood Feb. 6, 1934 2,017,343 Durham Oct. 15, 1935 2,218,352 Fischer Oct. 15, 1940 2,561,146 Sieg July 17, 1951 2,703,682 Jacobs Mar. 8, 1955 2,929,572 Baurngartner et al Mar. 22, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 244,171 Great Britain Dec. 11, 1925 

